Maritime Systems

Protection and deployment of maritime systems and infrastructures for military and civilian applications has been a longstanding research priority for the Fraunhofer FKIE. In line with the Institute's mission, research questions are primarily focused on security-relevant aspects.

These include, for example, assistance systems for evacuating cruise ships or dealing with disasters on seagoing vessels, integrated security concepts for port facilities, prototype solutions for frigate control centers and cyber security issues for ICT systems used in navigation and control. The results of these studies are highly realistic, practice-relevant concepts, which in many cases have found their way into productive systems, process models and binding legal requirements. Questions of cyber security are also of major relevance in this context, since digitalization and networking play such a dominant role in the further development of value creation structures in the maritime world.

Unmanned platforms are also becoming increasingly important in both military and civilian sectors. Their applications include mine detection and removal, mapping the seabed and exploration of deposits. In this context, the Fraunhofer FKIE develops powerful technologies for resource-optimized mission planning, communications integration and the independent navigation of autonomous systems.